ABSTRACT
The seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes, considered by many the father of modern philosophy, struggled to integrate animalistic bodily-existence with mental-spiritual aspects. The conclusion of his deductive philosophy, the famous cogito ergo sum, identified the self with the cognitive, thinking self. The Parisian scene that Freud joined was full of vibrancy, charisma, and power trips. In many ways, Charcot's hypnosis resembled traditional shamanic work more than scientific medical procedures. Freud was exposed to highly dramatised, overly technical, and very simplistic form of hypnosis. Brouillet's painting is a disturbing document reflecting the scientific, chauvinistic, and socio-political zeitgeist. It reveals the time's attitudes towards women and regarding the body as much as it tells about hypnosis and Charcot. Freud fought boldly and wisely to establish psychoanalysis as a science, all the while proudly leaning against the medical-physical model of Descartes and Newton for support.
